Forum - View topic

NEWS: Full Tokyo Assembly Passes Youth Ordinance Bill

I hope somebody on ANN more educated in all this legal stuff than I am writes an article about what can be expected, because I am just reeling right now...

My biggest question is with Comiket- will that still happen next year? Will it have to move? Or will they be able to get by with just checking ages at the doors?

It's too early to tell and the law is too vague to know for sure.

I expect we will see a SIGNIFICANT reduction in the number of late-night shows with perverted moments, specifically with underage characters. I expect OAVs (marked as 18+, even if they're just a little edgy) to fill some of that gap. I also think manga editors will encourage new manga starting up that it involve slightly older characters if there's any possibility anything sexual will happen. (i.e. college is the new high school.)

I also suspect people will start getting carded in buying porn in Akihabara, much like they do in the US.

But who knows. This law is SO vague that a lot of what happens now will be in how the publishers react to it, and the politics that ensue. (shrug)

Unfortunately I think we're stuck with this law for the time being. Given the increasingly unsavory reputation of otaku stuff in Japan, I actually expect this law to be very popular with non-fans, which are, after all, the vast majority of people over there. I also expect the publishers to really push whatever limits are declared -- keep in mind, this is the country that invented tentacle porn because they couldn't show two bodies together.